I was talking to a buddy yesterday and he mentioned that when he gets into some fish he will hold them in the livewell, and sometimes release the fish in another location due to the fish getting a "stress coat" that will shut down a bite. I think I remember a short thread on this topic a while ago, but thought I would ask again.

Do you believe a fish will release a pheromone that will warn other fish?

Ruin your buddies' spots....

Yeah, I saw that when I googled it ;D

I'm assuming that's to keep them healthy/alive in the livewell or revive them? But would a stressed fish be a warning to others?

Yeah, I saw that when I googled it ;D

I'm assuming that's to keep them healthy/alive in the livewell or revive them? But would a stressed fish be a warning to others?

That is actually a chemical sold for aquarium fish.  I dont know the effectiveness in a wild setting.

I dont really buy into the thought of the "stress pheromone" and I know bass are not all that intelligent, but I think seeing my buddy get ripped out of the water by his face would be less of a deterrent than seeing him not come back    ;D

Never heard of that before...  :-?

Yeah, I saw that when I googled it ;D

I'm assuming that's to keep them healthy/alive in the livewell or revive them? But would a stressed fish be a warning to others?

That is actually a chemical sold for aquarium fish. I don't know the effectiveness in a wild setting.

I don't really buy into the thought of the "stress pheromone" and I know bass are not all that intelligent, but I think seeing my buddy get ripped out of the water by his face would be less of a deterrent than seeing him not come back ;D

Yea, J's joke went over my head for a minute ;D

Surprisingly, I did find a link that said some do use it in the livewell.

Joking aside, I am actually curious about this, as I've heard of this, but my personal experience doesn't seem to bear this out.  I'm not sure if I'd know, or if their was any way to prove or disprove the effect in the field.

I've never heard of that. I always toss fish back where I catch them and i've never had that problem.

Yeah, I saw that when I googled it ;D

I'm assuming that's to keep them healthy/alive in the livewell or revive them? But would a stressed fish be a warning to others?

That is actually a chemical sold for aquarium fish. I don't know the effectiveness in a wild setting.

I don't really buy into the thought of the "stress pheromone" and I know bass are not all that intelligent, but I think seeing my buddy get ripped out of the water by his face would be less of a deterrent than seeing him not come back ;D

Yea, J's joke went over my head for a minute ;D

Surprisingly, I did find a link that said some do use it in the livewell.

You can use it in the livewell, and on your hands before handling fish. I used it when handling large fish for shipping (tropical aquarium fish) especially if they were too large to effectively net from a tank.

Personally, something like Rjuvenade or simply 1/3 cup Kosher salt per 10 gal water in the livewell works just as well, if not much better.

Sorry to drift off topic there.

Still wondering about any response from someone that actually knows about this....

:-/

You definitely stress the bass by putting into the livewell and should release the bass if not tournament fishing.

I don't believe that negative odors that can alarm other bass are released by the bass, they do urinate as a result of being handled. The question is will a released bass turn off the bite? Bass may follow another bass away from where you are fishing as a result of the bass being immediately released. The result is usually the opposite; catching a bass can and does excite other bass in the area and releasing them doesn't seem to turn off a hot bite.

Most bass fishermen like to haul a livewell full of bass to show off to others and will use any excuse to satisfy that desire, IMO.

WRB

Thanks for the responses!

I found a few websites. They don't directly answer my question, but have some good info that relates.

This one seems to be a journal entry about a experiment where they noticed a antipredator response in juvenile bass when "alarm pheromones" from other fish were introduced, and a predator response in adult bass when the same pheromones were used.

http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=1097180

This one is about aquarium fish.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebindex/FrightChemsFWArt.htm

These pheromonal behavior effects have now been demonstrated in virtually all living orders of fishes.

Not trying to play scientist, just interested.

So, if you catch dinks, put them in the well.  If you catch big ones, put them back.

Here's a picture of mine

OH OH , misunderstood the question>>>>my mistake